Windsor, Tecumseh declare states of emergency due to flooding: 'More than we can handle'

Mayors in the City of Windsor and the Town of Tecumseh declared states of emergency Thursday after intense storms pounded the area, flooding basements and forcing residents to abandon cars in flooded streets.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said one of the reasons he declared the state of emergency is to help area residents access disaster relief funding from the province.

“What I want is relief for residents,” said Dilkens, noting that yet more rain was expected overnight. “This event today is beyond the reasonable capacity of the city to handle in terms of flooding. But it’s also, in my estimation, beyond the reasonable capacity of the residents.”

The province has a Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program. The province must first send a team to assess whether the damage from a natural event is serious enough to include this area in the program.

Vehicles pass through a section of Jefferson Blvd. that was flooded on Thursday, September 29, 2016, in Windsor, ON. Heavy rains caused flooding in much of the area.Dan Janisse /
Windsor Star

People with insurance would go through their insurer. But people who have been denied insurance because of previous basement floods may be able to access provincial funds, if the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing feels Thursday’s flood fits the criteria.

Though sewer backup is not normally included in that program, the Biblical amount of rain Windsor’s east end, Tecumseh and Lakeshore received is overwhelming.

Environment Canada says 78 millimetres of rain was measured in 24 hours at Windsor Airport. But the City of Windsor’s east-end rain gauge measured 106 millimetres, while Tecumseh’s suggested as much as 190. The storm dumped twice as much rain on the east side of Windsor as it did on the west.

“The fact of the matter is we have more water here than we can handle,” Dilkens said. “In fact, it’s more water than any system in Canada would be able to handle.”

The city’s 311 call centre on Thursday was on track to log more than 1,000 calls, over three times the normal amount. Perhaps 80 per cent the calls were storm-related.

“The 311 centre was inundated with calls today,” Dilkens said during a press conference at his office. “Many people have been trying to call 311 and have received busy signals.”

But the city increased 311 staff, extended the call centre’s hours from 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday, and are still encouraging people to call in to report flooding so that the problems can be mapped.

A warning sign is seen at Blue Heron Park during flooding in east Windsor on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016.JASON KRYK /
Windsor Star

Windsor’s last state of emergency was declared May 21, 2013, when a massive fire broke out at a plastics recycling warehouse at Ojibway Parkway and Sprucewood Drive.

But the 2013 state of emergency, declared over poor air quality, did not affect as many people as Thursday’s flooding. Likely more than 1,000 residents were hit with flooding from the storm, though official numbers have yet to be compiled.

Dilkens said the city’s storm water and sewer system pumped at full steam throughout the deluge, even after one pump caught fire at the Little River Pollution Control Plant. A backup pump automatically kicked in and continued with the job.

That said, the Little River plant’s overflow pond overflowed, spilling water into the surrounding area.

“Three to four inches of rain in that time period is huge,” acting city engineer Dwayne Dawson said Thursday morning. “That volume of rain is just overwhelming the sewers.”

The city asked residents to hold off on non-flooding related calls until the rain passed. As an alternative to calling, residents were encouraged to also report flooding by visiting 311online.ca. Click on Request Service and then Storm Flooding.

The city also recommended that showers, laundry washing and other heavy water usage be avoided during the downpour since it burdens the sewer system even more.

A man walks away from his Aston Martin on Riverside Drive East near Jefferson Boulevard on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in Windsor after it stalled in the flooded street. Heavy rains caused flooding in much of the area.Dan Janisse /
Windsor Star

A part of Riverside Drive was temporarily closed because of high water levels around the St. Rose area, while a part of McHugh was also shut down. Parts of the WFCU Centre parking lot were under water for the Spitfires game Thursday night.

Fire crews from the county helped Windsor and other neighbouring communities deal with the problem. At least two people from Tecumseh were transported to hospital Thursday with suspected CO2 poisoning after using gas pumps in closed areas.

Meanwhile, Dawson said his department had up to 30 people at any one time dealing strictly with storm problems.

“We have all hands on deck right now dealing with a lot of issues,” Dawson said. “All of our pump stations are up and running but just the volume of rain we’re experiencing is causing the levels of the sewers to rise and it’s flowing back onto the street.

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